Distress and Discord
by RiverStorm16
Summary: The dark sides, that's what Roman had called them. So what happens when Thomas meets Roman's dark side? Fan Sanders Sides episode.


**So this idea is one that I have been pondering for awhile. If you have not seen the latest Sanders Sides then here is the one and only spoiler warning that you will get. Ever since the latest episodes I couldn't help noticing the Roman seemed off, I mean he called Logan Patton, something that there is no way he would do normally. That gave me the idea that perhaps in the next Sanders Sides we would be seeing Roman's dark side. And the idea of what the side would be took a lot of thinking on. But at last I think I have it! So please enjoy the chapter on my version of the next Sanders Sides video. Just a quick disclaimer before we dive in, I don't own the Sanders Sides or Thomas himself, that would be weird.**

It was a crisp fall day outside, the perfect day for Thomas to have an excuse to stay inside. But unlike most days he spent indoors relaxing and binge watching the latest show, today was not one of those days. Thomas found himself sitting on his living room couch, his anxious persona across from him. Both were currently engaged in a discussion on a subject that had been plaguing them for days now.

"I just don't understand why you had to kick in right in the middle of the date" Thomas said.

"I didn't mean to be so strong. It's just…Patton and Roman were arguing and I…I couldn't handle it…I lost control" Virgil replied, his tone barely above a whisper.

Lately everything had been moving a little too fast for Virgil. Thomas had now been on several dates that had Roman and Patton working over time. The dates had been going well and Thomas seemed to be very happy, that was until the most recent date.

The whole ordeal had Virgil locking himself in his room and refusing to come out or speak with anyone for days, not even Patton. He had finally emerged this morning, being greeted by Logan. The logical persona informed him of their host's need to see him, something he was already aware of. While in his room he had heard a whisper of his name that was the sign of being summoned. He refused to answer it for days, knowing he had to be in a calmer state to be able to speak about the issue. Virgil took a deep breathe before he snapped his fingers, feeling a small hook in his navel as he disappeared from the mind palace and appeared to a waiting Thomas in the real world.

"Tell me what happened" Thomas requested gently, his voice lacking any of the anger Virgil feared it would have.

The former dark aspect sighed, "it started when a subject was brought up that you disagreed with. Patton insisted you should tell the truth, but Roman was against it. He said it could start a fight and if you would be fighting now it could be like…" Virgil had to take a couple of deep breaths before he could continue, "…like last time. I…I tired to calm myself, but I started to wonder if the fighting were to happen even before you decided to be a couple what else could go wrong, especially if you decided to become a couple. And Roman wasn't really helping by voicing my fears. I know I scared you with my panic…I didn't mean to."

"It's alright Virgil, I know you have been working hard to not be so harsh. I'm just glad to see you are ok, well, better than you were a few days ago at least. I just find it strange that Roman would do that, he's usually not the one to worry."

"Yeah, that's my job. I couldn't help noticing that he's been acting different ever since you did that video with him and Logan.

Now that Virgil had pointed it out Thomas thought back to his most recent videos, considering how Roman acted and could recall some odd behavior as well. He was silent for a moment as he thought over everything before making a decision, "maybe we should go check on him."

"I do need to go apologize to Patton anyways, I never feel good ignoring him when he's just trying to help" Virgil agreed.

Together they both synced into the mind palace. Thomas looked around in slight confusion.

"Wait, are we in the mind palace?" Thomas asked, noticing they seemed to be in the same living room they just left.

"Yeah, the only reason it looks normal is because we haven't gone to a certain room like usual. The only difference is the pictures" Virgil said, pointing to several frames scattered around the room.

Upon closer inspection Thomas realized each of them contained photos of the sides. He smiled as he gazed at each of them, enjoying the memories that were captured. Virgil wanted to give his host time to look around, but knew they had a mission. He was about to point this out when they heard a crash from upstairs that had both of them jumping.

Without hesitation they rushed up the stairs just as Patton came out of his room, hurrying over to the Prince's room where the sound must have come from. Virgil sensed Logan behind him as Patton opened the door. The faint scent of copper filled the air as all of them entered the room.

"Roman, kiddo, what happened?" Patton asked as he crouched down to the creative aspect.

The Prince was knelt in front of his vanity mirror that was currently scattered in broken shards all around him. He was clutching a hand that was colored as red as his sash. His body was shaking slightly and his breathing was uneven, his eyes held a small blaze of anger that disappeared quickly when Patton kneeled down to him.

"Logan, go get some bandages" Patton said and the intellectual was quick to follow his instructions.

"I-I tripped and fell. My hand hit the mirror and it j-just shattered" Roman said, his voice sounding almost forced with its shakiness.

It took Virgil only a second to scan the room to see there was nothing that could have tripped Roman and he already knew the fanciful side wasn't a clumsy person either. He also caught the brief look that Patton gave the prince, realizing he wasn't the only one that noticed the lie. Virgil came to realize after getting to know the fatherly figure better that he also had some observation skills, something he was glad he had in common with the cheerful side.

Before anyone could speak Logan appeared again with a first aid kit, handing it off to Patton. As he began to bandage Roman's hand Virgil exchanged a worried glance with Logan, hoping he would understand. He seemed to get the message something was off and he glanced away after giving a small nod. Thomas joined Patton, quietly comforting Roman and asking if he was alright.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you Logan" Roman said, glancing at Patton.

"I…I'm Patton" the moral side said.

Virgil didn't miss the flash of panic that appeared in Roman's eyes before he spoke, "yeah, I know, I was thanking Logan for getting the bandages."

Everyone exchanged a confused look, but alarm bells were blaring in Virgil's head. This was now the second time that Roman had mixed up Logan and Patton. And nothing, not even the recent stress, would have caused him to make a mistake like that twice.

"Roman are you sure you're alright? You're not acting like yourself" Thomas said.

"I apologize, I am just tired. I have been working a lot on helping with your dates."

That answer only heightened Virgil's suspicion. Even when Roman was working on something he always insisted on getting his beauty sleep. Just then, the darker persona noticed a flash of movement in the mirror shards on the floor. For a brief moment he was almost certain he saw the prince's face, which should be impossible from how he was currently sitting.

While the others continued to speak with Roman Virgil followed his instincts and left the room. He walked down the hall and ducked into the bathroom, gazing into the huge mirror on the wall. It only took a few seconds for his reflection to transform into Roman's.

"Virgil! Thank goodness I could reach someone" Roman said, his eyes flooding with relief but didn't loose the last sliver of fear.

"What happened?" Virgil asked, keeping his expression neutral.

"I got stuck in here, he won't let me out."

"How do I know you aren't playing a trick on me?"

"Please Hot Topic, you can trust me" Roman begged, using one of Virgil's nicknames.

While there was the minor doubt that this could still be a trick, it was almost certain that this Roman was the real one. Virgil reassured him that he believed him before going back into the room, ready to confront the individual that took the prince's place.

"How long did you think you could keep up your façade?" Virgil demanded, towering over 'Roman.'

"What are y-" the imposter began to ask, but the anxious aspect cut him off.

"Drop the act, I know who you are" Virgil snapped, holding up a glass shard to show the real Roman.

"And you believed him? He's just trying to trick you" 'Roman' said.

"I don't understand, what is happening?" Thomas asked in confusion.

"One of these Romans is not who they say they are. And I can prove it" but no sooner did that sentence leave Virgil when suddenly one of his own hands covered his mouth.

"Tsk, tsk Virgil, you should know the rules by now" came a voice from the shadows.

Everyone turned just as Deceit appeared, one of his hands held upwards in a fist to keep the gloomy side silent.

"You can't tell secrets that Thomas hasn't asked for" Deceit said.

"You're not going to keep things from me again Deceit, I want to know what's going on. Tell me Virgil" Thomas said.

Deceit growled, but put his hand back down, disappearing into the shadows and allowing the former dark side to continue.

"There's only one correct answer to the question I have, that is the only way to reveal the imposter" Virgil paused, glancing between the two before asking, "what is the nickname I called you that you actually liked?"

The Roman in the room appeared calm, but his eyes betrayed his fear as he struggled to come up with an answer.

It was the Roman in the mirror that chimed in first, "Sir Sing-a-lot."

"He didn't give me a chance to think, ask another" 'Roman' said.

"Fine, What gifts did you receive and give for Christmas?"

'Roman' thought for a moment before replying, "pasta and a book."

"Going to need more details" Virgil pressed.

"Why do you need details? I answered the question."

Virgil turned to mirror Roman who replied, "the book had a story that replaced Watson with Logan to help Holmes solve mysteries. The pasta had the secret ingredients of love and cumin."

Everyone now rounded on the prince in the room, Thomas speaking first, "who are you? What did you do with Roman?!"

The imposter laughed as his clothing transformed. White turned to black, gold to silver, and the red sash grew in length, transforming into an emerald green cap that hung from his left shoulder. A phantom style mask made from cracked mosaic mirror shards covered the right side of his face, the eye behind the mask going pure white. His skin tore along his hands, exposing more of the shards in a mosaic pattern.

"Very well, no more illusions. Now we meet face to face."

"Loathing, I knew it was you" Virgil growled.

"Yes, yes, you're such a smart cookie. We all know the only reason you do that is to hide your flaws. How is that leash treating you? I know how much you love being told you're a good obedient mutt" Loathing shot.

"The only one on a leash is you, thinking you are in control still" Virgil bit back.

"Well, I'm not the one in the mirror" Loathing pointed out.

"Wait hang on, what is happening?" Thomas questioned.

"Oh how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Loathing, Self-Loathing to be specific. You didn't really think Anxiety and Deceit were the only dark sides did you?" Loathing said with a wicked smile.

"His name is Virgil" Patton snapped, his rare anger showing, "release Roman Loathing!"

Loathing laughed maliciously, "what good would that do, you need me right now Thomas."

"What?" Thomas asked in surprise.

"I know you've been thinking about it, the all too familiar pattern of fighting. You know eventually he will get fed up with you and you'll have to duck out so you aren't a burden on him. You know it's only a matter of time before any guy you are interested in finds someone that is a better match for them than you."

Virgil tried not to let Loathing's words get to him, but the more the dark side spoke the more he was unable to mask his feelings. Noticing the change in his gloomy friend Patton was quick to catch him in an embrace before his legs gave out on him. Virgil could hardly hear anything over his panicked breathing; he almost missed Logan's words as he stepped forward.

"Just because an issue has occurred in the past, it does not mean it will occur again. Yes the last relationship you had did not end well Thomas, but the key to not repeating the past events is to learn from the experience."

"What do you mean?" Thomas asked.

"According to many scientific articles when in a relationship communication is key to helping work through any problem that may occur. But you are forgetting one important component, you aren't dating him yet. There is still time to figure out if you and he can become a couple. If you voice your concerns to him he might be able to help you work through all of the fears you have built up in your mind" Logan advised.

"You annoying egghead! Who said you could butt in" Loathing snarled.

The logical persona ignored him, continuing to focus solely on Thomas, "do you remember what I told you when Deceit attempted to sway you?"

"To seek knowledge if I am unsure" Thomas said.

"And the same advice applies now. There is truth in knowledge and you will come to understand you do not need to listen to Loathing's lies."

The dark aspect was about to say something when Patton cut him off, "just like I've told you before kiddo, you're worthy of anyone that comes along. You've gone through the rainstorm and now its time to shine like a rainbow."

With those words Virgil felt a huge weight lift from his chest, allowing him to finally steady his breathing. He felt Patton's fingers brush through his hair and he sensed the tension slowly draining from his body. Thomas looked more at ease from their words as he turned to Loathing.

"I think we are done. Return Roman. Now!"

Loathing growled, turning to glare at all of them, "you can't keep me away forever. Things will only become more stressful when they start dating. When everything falls apart I'll be back."

With that he touched the mirror that trapped Roman and with a puff of smoke the fanciful side was out. Everyone eagerly ran to embrace him, including Virgil.

After a moment Roman spoke up, the others giving him space, "I apologize for all the trouble my careless actions have caused. Loathing knew I was worried and he said he could help me, but he ended up hurting all of you."

Patton pulled the prince into another hug, "no need to apologize kiddo. Deceit tricked me too. The important thing is that you're alright."

"And just like with Deceit Thomas was able to learn a valuable lesson in meeting Loathing" Logan added.

"And now we can make the next Sanders Sides video" Virgil said.

"Thank you Logan and Patton, if it wasn't for the both of you I don't think I would have been able to tune Loathing out."

"Often times your harshest critic is yourself, but it is important to remember that kind of judgment will often times be untrue" Logan said.

"And as the Bruno Mars song goes, you're amazing just the way you are" Patton added.

In the moment that they all embraced again Thomas didn't feel as worried about what was to come. With all of the aspects encouraging him he knew he would be just fine.

 **And that is it! I hope you enjoyed my story. I thought I would end off by stating some details that I put into Loathing. When I was coming up with his look I had to consider it carefully. I finally came up with the idea that is in this story. I decided to go with a green cape because of the green with envy saying. The mask represents masking our feelings from others. The cracked mirror shards has to do with the broken image of ourselves that a lot of people that have self loathing experience. The puff of smoke as he disappeared represents the saying smoke and mirror, referencing that his lies to get Thomas worried. I wanted him to be exactly the opposite of Roman since Deceit was the opposite of Patton. Since Roman is all about self love I thought the best way to reverse that would be self loathing. Plus this is an issue that Thomas and I both struggle with. I have seen his posts before saying that he wishes he could be better looking and such and it really hits home with my own experiences. It's something that I still struggle with daily, but I think writing this story has at least helped in some way. Granted my theory could be completely wrong for what we will see in the next video, but that's why it's a fanfiction. Anyways thank you so much for reading my story, feel free to write a review if you feel inclined to.**


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